Since discovering Thai Yoga Massage, more commonly referred to as Thai Massage, in 1998, I have been on a path of discovery and have become a certified Thai massage practitioner. I have also continued to learn about Thai culture and cuisine and have developed a fascination with traditional Thai medicine. Though traditional Thai medicine went out of fashion in Thailand in the 20th Century with the introduction of Western medicine, it is now regaining popularity and recognition as a national treasure. While Thai Yoga Massage is the most well-known of the ancient healing traditions, there is renewed interest in the other traditional treatments both within Thailand and around the world. The search for natural holistic approaches to health and well-being has helped revive these ancient traditions for all to enjoy.

We hear a lot about yogurt and its benefits. In this article I plan to clarify whether or not yogurt is something you may wish to add to your diet, offer some alternatives to making yogurt with cow's milk, and include instructions for buying good quality yogurt and/or making your own. Yogurt probably originated with the need to preserve fresh milk. Some cultures simply allow the milk to sour, producing a product called "clabber." Others add a culture, after boiling the milk to remove any undesirable bacteria. When I was growing up, we had fresh raw milk, and when we had extra, my mother often let it sit out overnight to sour. Though we never had yogurt, she used this sour milk to make cottage cheese by placing it in a cheesecloth and letting it drain overnight. Many rural Americans used raw milk to make clabber and cottage cheese.

Muscle Release Therapy
A Natural Way to Relieve Pain and Reduce Stress
by Rhonda Graves

You feel tight all over, your body aches, you are not able to do the activities you enjoy—you may be suffering from excess muscle tension. Excess muscle tension is usually caused by injury, stress, alignment problems, or any combination of these three things. Our body responds to these events by tightening our muscles. When muscles become tense and imbalanced, your body's natural correct alignment system cannot work properly and your breathing habits are affected. Over time, muscles that remain tense lose their ability to relax, resulting in chronic pain. Many of us are holding so much tension in our bodies and have been holding it for so long that our bodies have forgotten how to relax those muscles.

There is an old saying in Traditional Chinese Medicine, "Where there is resistance or disruption, there is pain. Where there is no resistance or disruption, there is no pain." Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is an impressive method for eliminating emotional and physical problems by re-balancing the energy system of the body. It is based on one simple paradigm-shifting concept: The cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body's energy system. EFT is a meridian energy therapy similar to acupuncture but without needles. The basic technique involves "tuning into" a troubling issue, emotion, or thought and then tapping on specific acupressure points with your fingers.

Are you confused about nutrition? Most people are. Thanks to popular media, most North Americans have come to believe that many foods, used as staples for centuries, are unhealthy. But cancer, infertility, learning disabilities, heart disease, and depression are more prevalent today than ever before. A close examination of politically correct nutritional tenets reveals that the "modern" diet is very likely destroying the health of many people.

The BodyTalk System™
Healing the BodyMind From Within
by Allison Costron

When you combine the clinical findings of Applied Kinesiology, the expertise of Western medicine, the energy dynamics of acupuncture, and the wisdom of modern physics and advanced mathematics, what do you get? A state-of-the-art integrative holistic health-care paradigm: The BodyTalk System is currently one of the fastest growing complementary holistic health-care systems in the world!

It feels warm and invigorating to have the light return after spending the darkness of winter in a cocoon-like atmosphere. I chose the front cover photo of the little girl with her arms outstretched to the sky because she is reaching out and welcoming in the light of the Spring sun as it bathes her from head to toe and renews her spirit and soothes her soul; her joy is self-evident, as is that of the other girl happily sitting in the field of brilliant purple and white flowers. These are some of the gifts of this glorious new season of awakening and rebirth which we are now entering and greeting with open arms.